<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Stamps by TheStrangerIsHere</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933043">The Stamps</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStrangerIsHere/pseuds/TheStrangerIsHere'>TheStrangerIsHere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>All the other rangers apprentice fanfic writers are GODS, Ficlet, Happy to Comply, I found the rangers apprentice fandom and it needs more stuff, honestly, how Halt got his hands on Duncan's royal seal, seriously, this mAN - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:41:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStrangerIsHere/pseuds/TheStrangerIsHere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Halt's forging skills were the stuff of legend as he trained Will as a Ranger. But when did Halt get his hands on Duncan's seal?</p>
<p>The new king isn't quite used to the newly minted, enigmatic Halt, so he isn't quite sure how to deal when Halt barges into his office demanding his royal seal...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Stamps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, this doesn't really fit into the canon timeline, but lets say that this was sometime when Duncan was recently made King, and he didn't quite know how to deal with Halt yet, so this is one of his first experiences with the new ranger. Sorry if it doesn't make all that much sense. Written in 20 minutes at 1 in the morning and such, you know how it is.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It happened a few months after Duncan’s coronation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was sitting at his desk in his ornate office, looking over the new paperwork that Baron Arald had sent him, occasionally sipping coffee from the mug that sat to his right.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to need to see your stamps, Duncan.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At the sudden voice, he startled, nearly dropping his coffee as he looked up to see Halt, standing unobtrusively in front of his desk, wrapped in the camouflage cloak of the rangers. He stared for a moment, processing the fact that Halt had somehow gotten into his chambers without discovery, before reasoning that </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, this is a ranger, and this is Halt, of course no one heard him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It was another minute before he fully understood the request.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What on Earth for, Halt?” The ranger shifted, steely eyes betraying nothing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Got some… Ranger business, down south of Redmont fief. It might come in handy having a royal seal to flash around, you’know, establish the legitimacy of the mission.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duncan gaped. “But you’re a bloody ranger! What more do you need!?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Halt met his gaze, unwavering. “The Ranger core still needs time to recover. We lost a lot of our reputation to those fakes when Morgarath was pulling the strings. It may have been some time since you’ve become King, but it’ll take years before the Core fully recovers.” It was true, he thought, the Core had been disgraced when the drunkards and inadequate noble-folk had muddied the oakleaf, and now that Duncan thought of it, it made sense that it might take some time before the common folk fully trusted Rangers once more. It made sense, but he still couldn’t completely understand Halt’s request.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And you need my seal to do that? You think I’m going to let you take the royal seal down to God knows where? Why not get some sort of stamped warrant, you certainly don’t need my seal, now do you?” The corner of Halt’s lip twitched, the equivalent of a smirk, and Duncan felt a sinking feeling in his gut.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I never said I was gonna take your stamps down with me, I just need to see them for a moment. You have them in that drawer there, right? Or are you the sort to use your ring?” Halt eyed Duncan’s hand, not seeing any sort of signet ring, before his gaze flitted over to the desk to Duncan’s left.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duncan nonplussed, shook his head. “No, my seals stay locked in my desk.” Halt flashed his teeth, more of a snarl than a smile, and Duncan shrank back. Before he could fully register what was happening, Halt leaned over the desk, snatching a key that sat besides the coffee mug, and through some sort of acrobatic miracle, he unlocked the drawer and pulled one of the stamps out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Halt eyed it approvingly, with a soft “that’ll work”, before snatching the coffee mug, drowning it in one quick draught, turning, and padding out of his office, with a quick “I’ll have it back to you by tomorrow” thrown over his shoulder as he slipped through the heavy oak doors.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duncan sat, frozen, staring as the doors closed with a soft thump. His eyes wandered down to the empty mug.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“THE BLOODY GIT DRANK ALL MY COFFEE!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>